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fr-martin-gospel-reflections · 8 months

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1st February, ‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate’, Reflection on the readings for Feast of Saint Brigid and Thursday, Fourth Week in Ordinary Time (Lk 6:32-38; Mk 6:7-13)

1st February, Feast of Saint Brigid

Saint Brigid is the secondary patron of Ireland, after Saint Patrick. She was born around 454. When she was young her father wished to make a suitable marriage for her but she insisted that she wanted to consecrate herself to God. She received the veil and spiritual formation probably from Saint Mel and she stayed for a while under his direction in Ardagh. Others followed her example and this led to her founding a double monastery in Kildare, with a section for men and a section for women. Through Brigid’s reputation as a spiritual teacher, the monastery became a centre of pilgrimage. She died in 524 and she is venerated not only throughout Ireland but in several European lands. She was renowned for her hospitality, almsgiving and care of the sick. Saint Brigid’s cross remains a popular sign of God’s protection. In legend it was used by Brigid to explain the Christian faith. As a woman of deep prayer, it is appropriate that the first reading for her feast is that wonderful prayer of Saint Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. He prays that our hidden self would grow strong, that Christ would live in our hearts. When we allow Christ to live in our hearts, then our hidden self, our deepest self, grows strong. Paul equates allowing Christ to live in our hearts with gospel reading. Jesus is calling there for a life of love that reflects the love that is in God, ‘Be compassionate as your Father in compassionate’. Paul reminds us that such a life flows from Christ living in us.

Thursday, Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

The disciples whom Jesus had earlier called and who have been with him for some time are now ready to be sent out on mission. They are to travel light, so as to be open to what God will give them through those to whom they preach the gospel. They are not to be so self-sufficient that they feel they have everything they need and nothing to receive from those to whom they are sent. Yes, they have much to give to others, the richness of the gospel, the life-giving power of the Lord, but they also have something to receive from others. The Lord is reminding us that we are dependent on each other. This is especially the case within the realm of faith. The Lord wants to work through us for the building up of others in the Lord and the Lord also wants to work through others for our building up. We are to be generous enough to share what the Lord gives us with others and humble enough to receive from others what the Lord has given them. This is the essential nature of the church. Saint Paul expressed this nature of the church when he spoke of the church as the body of Christ in which no one was self-sufficient and everyone was needed. It is very much a vision of church for our time. All of the baptized are called to be both givers and receivers. As the Lord sent out the Twelve, the Lord sends each one of us to everyone else and is sending others to each one of us. We are always to be asking ourselves, ‘To whom is the Lord sending me?’ and ‘Whom is the Lord sending to me?’

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ramrodd · 2 years

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45. The Triumphal Entry (Mark 11:1-11)

COMMENTARY:

I'm following your commentary on the Gospel of John Mark. My premise is that Cornelius composed the Gospel of Mark as a follow-up intelligence assessment of the events surrounding the resurrection of Jesus. This narrative was prepared for the person on the Palestine desk in the Praetorian Guard, "the Italian Cohort" after Tiberius has died and just before Caligula commits suicide, which is to say, the autograph of the Gospel of Mark arrived in Rome just as Claudius ascends to the throne of the Republic. Claudius introduces Christianity into Britain that ultimately arrives at the Milvian Bridge fully endowed with the fusion of Christian/Druid military community. Everybody in the Legions knew about Jesus before Tiberius received Pilate's initial report of the Resurrection, which is probably captured complete from the oral tradition surrounding Peter and the Apostles separate from Paul's extended revelation and meditation . John Mark was not at the Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday. He was in Bethany with Martha and Mary of Bethany involved in the mourning for Lazarus, John Mark is 15 years on and he has had a boyhood crush on Jesus since the Passover just before his Bar Mitzvah just before the Feast of Tabernacles. John Mark is the Rich Young Ruler who is anxious to enlist in Team Jesus, but he isn't old enough and Jesus makes him get permission from his parents. Around Hanukkah. John Mark provides a useful bench mark in the common narrative and the 1st Century zeitgeist The narratives of the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John are just about to converge the second time in the combined narratives at chapter 11. The tow narratives are bound by the Holy Spirit by the weeping in John 11: 35 and the weeping in Mark 15:72. This is a "doubling" described in Genesis 41:32. KJV.

Jesus raises Lazarus on Palm Sunday immediately after surveying the space of the Gentiles Gate of the Temple, 35 acres. John Mark was not at the cleansing of the Temple: Just Team Jesu. Peter told him that Jesus had a length of heavy rope He employed to stampede the crowd in the market place, like the stampede in Korea on Hollowee this year. We don't know what the Apostles were doing while Jesus was creating a riot like January 6, but Jesus really didn't need their help: He could use the Spirt of God to push people around and walk on water and whatever.

John Mark is the Beloved Disciple and not John the Apostle or John the Revelator, who probably is John the Apostle. John the Revelator had a similar experience as Mohammed (and Moses) in receiving his series of visions It is a singularly unpleasant experience, being the presence of The One. God is just too powerful for living flesh to resist. God learned this in the Book of Job and realizes that God cannot dial it back. Which is why God sent Jesus and left us with the Holy Spirit,

And, of course, The Satan, who is the basis of the human condition. He is the "Total Depravity" of Calvinism and exists, universally, in our personal core of rot. That core of rot is the essence of Ayn Rand's "Virtue of Selfishness".

The Gospel of Matthew is a polemic in response to Galatians and a polemic in support of Peter's Judaizing. The Gospel of Luke is commissioned by Theophilus and includes the amicus brief Luke was preparing for Paul's defense when he was remanded to Rome by Felix. Theophilus has a job like George Smiley in MI6 in the Praetorian Guard He is also the leader of the clandestine Roman Christian fellowship in the Roman legions. In particular, he is the nexus of the God Fearers like Cornelius in the ranks of the centurions spread horizontally throughout the legions. They are creatures of the secular rule of law and the innovation that separated the real military doctrine of King David's kingdom and the true military doctrine of Rome and Clausewitz. Clausewitz begins with Cornelius and the Praetorian Guard in his portrait of warfare as a metaphysical necessary instrument of a republican state. American Christian Just War Doctrine likewise begins with Cornelius and runs, straight through George Washington and the role of Commander-in-Chief. ' The Gospel of Mark is 1st Century Palestine from the perspective of the Army War College. The Gospel of John is John Mark's memoirs of Jesus as the star player on a touring baseball team from the perspective of the bat boy. John Mark provides the horseradish missing from the Roman sensibilities and traditions. Cornelius probably never attended a Seder. He just knew that it involved bread and wine and the review of the core values and behaviors of the servant-leader as an instrument of divine authority and the Liberation Gospel of Resurrection.

But John Mark was not at the Triumphal Entry.

#youtube

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nelsonsearcy · 5 years

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8 Biblical Principles for Recruiting New Volunteers

When I was just starting in ministry, one of my most respected mentors said something to me that I’ve never forgotten. As I was venting to him about feeling like a one-man show in my young church, he put his arm around me and said, “Nelson, remember, every member in your church is a minister. You are not in this alone unless you choose to be.”

Every member is a minister. I’m sure you’ve heard that assertion time and time again. It may even be one of the core values of your church. Honestly, when I first heard the statement, I wasn’t sure exactly what it meant. But now, after decades in ministry and countless hours spent working with pastors around the world, I realize just how deep this truth runs and how important it is when you are working to lead a God-honoring, effective church.

At The Journey, we have built our theology of ministry around eight theological foundations. Now, you don’t have to adopt our theology ministry carte blanche, but here’s what I do ask of you: Use these eight principles to help you think critically about how and why people serve in your church. As you work through each one, let it spur you toward clarifying your own theology of ministry, so you can move forward with building your ministry system on a proper foundation.

Principle #1: Ministry simply means to serve. We often confuse people with our language. When your members hear you say that you want them to get involved with ministry, they don’t understand what that really means. You and I understand that we are simply asking our people to volunteer, so make sure your members understand that being involved in ministry doesn’t mean they have to go to seminary or join the staff.

Principle #2: Serving is the act of putting the needs of others before your own needs. Serving is an expression of selflessness. Unfortunately, our modern cultural mindset is one of wanting to be served rather than serving – and that’s as true in our churches as anywhere else. In fact, I believe that selfishness is one of the greatest sins we face in today’s church. We have a duty to lead others toward the life of service that Jesus emulated. As he says in Matthew 20:28, “For even I, the son of man, came here not to be served, but to serve others.”

Principle #3: The goal of the ministry system is to help people become like Jesus. As church leaders, you and I are responsible for helping our people become more and more like Jesus. That’s God’s goal for every individual He has placed under your care. So, as you begin to think about developing an effective ministry system and doubling your volunteer base, the real question isn’t “How many more volunteers can I have?” but rather “How many of my people are more like Jesus because they are connected in serving?”

Your job and mine, as church leaders, is to disciple people. We are called to help them down the path of offering their whole lives to God.

Principle #4: You cannot become like Jesus Christ unless you learn to be a servant. Helping people learn to be servants, then, is an essential part of discipleship. In order to strip away selfishness and move people toward being servants, we need to model servanthood, teach on servanthood, and challenge volunteers onward as we celebrate and reproduce the Jesus-like characteristics in their lives. Just remember: Serving is essential to becoming like Jesus.

Principle #5: Serving opens people’s hearts to God and therefore is part of worship. This foundation has profound implications for both Christians and non-Christians. Before an unbeliever can come to know Jesus and worship Him in truth, God has to open his heart to the reality of the Gospel. In my experience, non-Christians who find themselves in serving situations become receptive to God’s work in their life much more readily than those who don’t serve. For Christians, service not only opens people’s hearts to worship but also stands as an at of worship in and of itself. When we present our bodies and our time to God as willing servants, we are worshiping Him.

Principle #6: If people aren’t serving, they aren’t truly worshiping and growing in their faith. Given this theological foundation, serving is a good way to measure worship and growth in your church. One of my favorite images of ministry is the football game analogy. Go to any college or professional football game and you’ll see 22 people on the field who are in desperate need of rest and tens of thousands of people in the stands who are in desperate need of exercise. Too often, that’s how our churches look. We have lots of people sitting on the sidelines who desperately need to grow, while the small minority who does everything desperately needs to take a break. That game plan may work in sports, but it will hinder your church in terms of both spiritual and numerical growth.

Strive for having 50 percent of your people serving one hour per week. They may be leading a growth group, singing on the worship team, serving as an usher or greeter, working in the kids’ area, or whatever else they are best suited to do. The point is that they are involved in serving in some way for an hour each week.

Principle #7: Mobilizing people for ministry is part of discipleship. If someone in your church is not serving, he is not growing as a disciple. If he isn’t serving, he’s less likely to be sharing his faith, spending time in Scripture and in prayer, and giving in a God-honoring way. In short, if he isn’t serving, he is not going to be able to honor God with all of the other areas of his life. Your job and mine, as church leaders, is to disciple people. We are called to help them down the path of offering their whole lives to God. Mobilizing them for ministry is an indispensable part of that discipleship.

Principle #8: The role of the pastor is to equip people for ministry. As a pastor, if I am doing everything by myself, I am robbing the people in my church of opportunities to grow. Having a do-it-yourself attitude is dangerous when it comes to ministry. It’s in my best interests not only as a pastor but also as a kingdom builder to mobilize as many people as possible to be involved in ministry. I am called to equip them as Paul says in Ephesians 4:11-13.

Too often you and I are hesitant to call people to ministry because we think the request will be seen as self-serving. We fall into feeling like we are trying to recruit people for our own purposes. Such thinking is completely off base. If your vision is aligned with God’s purposes for your church, asking people to get involved with that vision is asking them to start doing the most important thing they can do in life. You are calling them to act of worship.

–Nelson Searcy and Jennifer Dykes Henson

In my book Connect, I show church leaders how to create a culture that attracts, keeps, and grows volunteers. Taking a comprehensive approach to the often frustrating issue of finding and retaining volunteers, Connect gives leaders the practical insight and tools they need to effectively involve people in serving the local church. It details how to help people see the importance of serving, how to continually raise up new volunteers, how to really delegate, and even how to “fire” a volunteer. Every church leader who has struggled with getting and keeping people active in the church (and that’s all of them) will love the practical, workable strategies found here.

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

#christianity #ministry #pastors #churches #advice

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arcticdementor · 3 years

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Three core questions — each existential and unanswerable — in the Church of Woke are these: Why is the New American Religion so invested among a small minority of Americans (~20%)? Why does the power of this minority also just happen to be vested in the wealthiest and most privileged group in society (the top 10%)? Why is the overriding Mission of the church the achievement of intersectional equity (race, sex, gender) — when the overriding issue in American life is that the privileged (Woke) share of national wealth and income gets bigger every year, and while society's other 90% just gets poorer?

Eric Kaufman sees the Church of Woke simply as the latest manifestation of an embedded phenomenon in American religiosity. Kaufman uses the multi-tool term-of-art, “Liberalism,” in place of “Civil Religion” (the more apropos term created by Robert Bellah) to posit a metaphor of “Liberal Fundamentalism.”

This metaphor positions the Church of Woke squarely in the ebb and flow of American sectarianism, indeed, going back to the Reformation itself. Hence, Woke theology simply represents another in a long line of fundamentalist renovatio (or restauratio), restoring a corrupted Church through purification and a return to true, first principles.

…

Kaufman’s hopeful proposition that such periods of fundamentalist dominance are historically fleeting. The iron authority of religious law can be broken (“moral defenestration”). Hence, he holds out the promise: “Might wokeness be desacralized?”

This yet-to-be historical “happy end” is much like the signs of imminent August relief — an American Thermidorian Reaction. In some ways this hopeful path paces the argument of Angela Nagle: “… the libs have the magical powers to change the rules at any time and I suspect they’d quite like to go back to brunch without an anarchist with fleas spitting in their food and trying to burn the place down.”

…

Yet there is a darker path too, that promises a generations’ long fundamentalist yoke.

Michael Lind, in “The New Class War,” draws a dark portrait of a now-stratified America, in which a wealthy and privileged elite class has hardened into full control of national wealth, ruling institutions, and the “commanding heights of the economy” — and culture.

Moreover, this ruling class, like an old aristocratic order, is not merely legitimated by ancient social conventions, but by the nation’s constitutional compact, which all citizens have acclaimed as their own since the beginning. Hence, there is no footing for the overthrow of so embedded a ruling elite: One that ostensibly represents and defends the very rights of the whole (“Our Democracy”).

Hints of a dark path are embedded in Kaufman’s own essay. His hopeful thesis emphasizes how it is elites, historically, that appropriate rising fundamentalist doctrine, and turn it into electric fashion. The latest craze of the ruling class is surely how hypnotic fervency takes over the spirit of the age.

What if such a fundamentalist movement not only captures the elite, but also, seamlessly dovetails with their inmost group agendas? What if appeal is more than fashion, or fervency, or the raw excitement of channeling virtue itself?

Specifically, I am thinking of another vision’s rise to full power and glory in society: The tide of Christianity, as it became a flood, and took over the Greco-Roman world. As it took over, Christianity itself was taken over by Roman Optimates — the Greek and Latin ruling elites.

Roman elites discovered that persecuting Christians was less satisfying — and less profitable! — than ruling them. Caesar did lose to Christ, but he became Christ’s sole agent and vicar on earth instead.

…

Hence, the Church of Woke is by definition, "fundamentalist," in the sense that it must establish and maintain absolute authority over society, in order to protect its social and economic privilege. Yet it is also deeply evangelical. We, the vast majority of Americans, face an elite “United Front” (figuratively, with roots in the original Cominterm, and literally as in this Woke website).

These are true believers, fired by the crusading spirit. They are on a mission. Moreover, the mission fully obscures the base and selfish strategy of elite consolidation and enrichment, so that piety and penitence makes this fully occult. The purity of faith among its disciples is authentic and precious — and a practical necessity.

Furthermore, in its very fervency, this religiosity is double-edged. The burning brand of a Woke Faith serves to divide and keep down the Sea of Deplorables, while also firing up its own (especially the young) with waves of virtue and commissar-like fervor (among its stormtrooper cohorts).

This dynamic is still unfolding, and if it roots too deep in American elites, it will become the new order, our discussion last time of a backlash — or Thermidorian Reaction — notwithstanding.

#michael vlahos

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sportsleague365 · 6 years

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Jurgen Klopp has transformed Liverpool since ending his sabbatical in October 2015. Under his leadership, the Reds have reached two major European club finals – in which they finished runners-up to Sevilla (2016 Europa League) and Real Madrid (2018 Champions League) – as well as playing some of the most scintillating football we’ve seen during that time. This season has seen Liverpool emerge as Manchester City’s greatest championship threat. The 18-time English champions are now forged in Klopp’s image after he initially inherited a squad designed by his predecessors. Though some remain, those who have bought into his vision, others have fallen by the wayside and left for new adventures. Among them are big personalities desperate for a new challenge, as well as those who waited for an opportunity they never received. Below is a list of players who have permanently left Liverpool under Klopp’s watch and what happened next. 1. Christian BentekeSeason: 2016/17 Club joined: Crystal Palace Transfer fee: £27m Games under Klopp: 36 Benteke’s time at Liverpool can be described as a wasted opportunity. His reputation on arrival had and has never been higher, but the Belgian marksman couldn’t replicate his Aston Villa form and is rarely spoken about at Anfield these days. A move was best for all parties, Klopp had started to reinvigorate the Reds attack minus Benteke, who moved south to Crystal Palace, where despite an impressive first season he now continues to struggle for goals. 2. Jordon IbeSeason: 2016/17 Club joined: Bournemouth Transfer fee: £15m Games under Klopp: 33 So much was expected of Jordon Ibe. Many Liverpool supporters felt he was the perfect successor to Raheem Sterling, who had departed to Manchester City weeks before Klopp’s arrival. His new boss was prepared to give the young English winger a chance but it never quite worked out. With regular playing time even more scarce, Ibe became Bournemouth’s then-most expensive acquisition and it is where he plays his football today, albeit mostly in an impact-sub capacity. 3. Joe AllenSeason: 2016/17 Club joined: Stoke City Transfer fee: £13m Games under Klopp: 33 Affectionately dubbed the “Welsh Xavi”, there was a time when Joe Allen’s name was rarely missing from Liverpool’s midfield. His greatest run in the side came under Brendan Rodgers, under whom he previously worked at Swansea City. Klopp, appreciative of technically gifted midfielders, never saw the best of Allen, who soon departed from Stoke City where he continues to ply his trade in the Championship with five goals and four assists for the 14th-placed Potters. 4. Martin SkrtelSeason: 2016/17 Club joined: Fenerbahce Transfer fee: £5m Games under Klopp: 18 One of Liverpool’s longest-serving players when Klopp arrived, Skrtel’s best days were firmly behind him. Sparingly used by the German tactical, he’d leave for present club Fenerbahçe in the summer of 2016. He is regular starter with the Turkish giants but yet to win a major honour. 5. Luis Alberto Season: 2016/17 Club joined: Lazio Transfer fee: £4m Games under Klopp: 0 Luis Alberto never really got his Liverpool career going and wasn’t even used by Klopp before moving to The Eternal City. His subsequent performances for Lazio suggests potentially one that got away. Last season, he scored 11 goals in Serie A as Lazio finished fifth. 6. Tiago IloriSeason: 2016/17 (winter) Club joined: Reading Transfer fee:£3.75m Games under Klopp: 3 Another player who joined Liverpool young but never genuinely broke through, Tiago Ilori would enjoy a number of loans spells prior to making his senior debut under Klopp but there was never any inkling of a long-term future. He’s since found a home at Reading, whom he joined in January 2017, but is linked with a return to Sporting Lisbon. 7. Brad SmithSeason: 2016/17 Club joined: Bournemouth Transfer fee: £3m Games under Klopp: 10 Brad Smith never really threatened to be Liverpool’s first choice left-back under Klopp, before joining Bournemouth where he played a handful of games prior to signing for MLS outfit Seattle Sounders. 8. João Carlos TeixeiraSeason: 2016/17 Club joined: FC Porto Transfer fee: Free Games under Klopp: 7 Teixeira, similar to compatriot Ilori, would toil in the loan system before leaving the Reds without having firmly established himself. The native of Braga would join FC Porto, who loaned him out to his hometown club before he signed for Vitória Guimarães last summer. 9. Kolo TouréSeason: 2016/17 Club joined: Celtic Transfer fee: Free Games under Klopp: 24 Kolo Touré played somewhat of a mentor role in Brendan Rodgers’ final months as Liverpool boss. It wouldn’t be the case under the incoming Klopp, though the German was happy to have the Premier League winner around. Touré, keen for playing time as his career started to wind down, would reunite with Rodgers at Celtic before transitioning into a coach. In Glasgow, the former Arsenal defender became an ‘Invincible’ for the second time in his career as Celtic won the 2016/17 Scottish Premiership title without losing a single game. 10. Mario Balotelli Season: 2016/17 Club joined: Nice Transfer fee: Free Games under Klopp: 0 Balotelli’s nonchalance was never going to mix with Klopp’s discipline given how crucial work rate and pressing are to him. The enigmatic Italian marksman departed under a cloud but has since enjoyed his best football in years at Nice, though that particular relationship seems to be over. 11. Mamadou SakhoSeason: 2017/18 Club joined: Crystal Palace Transfer fee: £26m Games under Klopp: 29 Ill-disciple on pre-season duty ultimately ended Sakho’s Liverpool career. At one point he looked settled under Klopp, but in the end tardiness supposedly meant he the former PSG captain could no longer be trusted. Crystal Palace would come to Sakho’s rescue. There, he enjoys a key role under former Reds boss Roy Hodgson. 12. Lucas LeivaSeason: 2017/18 Club joined: Lazio Transfer fee: £5m Games under Klopp: 65 For much of his time in a Liverpool jersey, Lucas was maligned for failing to live up to initial performances as he transitioned from CAM to defensive midfielder. This ultimately subsided and the Brazilian midfielder left Anfield with to some degree of goodwill. His experience was routinely tapped into by Klopp, as he made over 50 appearances under the German before signing for Lazio. 13. Kevin StewartSeason: 2017/18 Club joined: Hull City Transfer fee: £4m Games under Klopp: 20 Kevin Stewart joined Liverpool from Tottenham Hotspur but never really made the grade despite making a handful of appearances during Klopp’s stewardship. He would subsequently be loaned out – to Cheltenham Town, Burton Albion and Swindon Town – before leaving Anfield permanently for Hull City 14. Andre WisdomSeason: 2017/18 Club joined: Derby County Transfer fee: £2m Games under Klopp: 0 Before joining Derby County in 2017, thus ending a nine-year association with Liverpool, the Leeds-born defender celebrated winning the Austrian championship with Red Bull Salzburg. Once seen as having great potential, Wisdom never got a look-in under Klopp. These days, he’s used intermittently on either side of Frank Lampard’s defence. 15. Philippe Coutinho Season: 2017/18 (winter) Club joined: Barcelona Transfer fee: £142m Games under Klopp: 89 You’ve heard of this one, right? He went on to become Liverpool’s record sale by some distance as Coutinho’s protracted transfer nearly doubled what Barcelona paid for Luis Suarez, his former Reds teammate. Since reuniting with the Uruguayan marksman, Coutinho is yet to find a home in the Barcelona starting line-up as Ernesto Valverde has been reluctant to use him in midfield. He has been benched for several league games at the time of writing and Barcelona were recently forced to publicly reassure Coutinho of his future at the club. 16. Danny WardSeason: 2018/19 Club joined: Leicester City Transfer fee: £12.5m Games under Klopp: 3 Danny Ward served as Liverpool’s third-choice goalkeeper before looking for pastures new. He’d settle for Leicester City last summer but is yet to make a league appearance under Claude Puel, who has exclusively used him in the EFL Cup. 17. Ragnar KlavanSeason: 2017/18 Club joined: Cagliari Transfer fee: £2m Games under Klopp: 53 Signed and sold by Klopp. The much-travelled Estonian central defender served his purpose, injecting some experience in Liverpool’s backline, and in the process became a cult hero among the club’s vocal support for his inexplicable bursts of unnecessary (and endearingly clumsy) flair. The King Klavan – GOALS, SKILLS & ASSISTS – 2017/18 @ReadLiverpoolFC pic.twitter.com/rY9OdCYRUd — Anything Liverpool (@AnythingLFC_) August 17, 2018 Klavan can today be found representing Serie A side Cagliari. 18. Jon FlanaganSeason: 2018/19 Club joined: Rangers Transfer fee: Free Games under Klopp: 9 Flanagan’s time at Liverpool ended in disgrace when he pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend. However, former teammate and captain Steven Gerrard would offer him a second chance when he brought him to Rangers last summer. He has only featured in one of the club’s last six league outings, a one-minute cameo in their emotional 1-0 win over city rivals Celtic at Ibrox. 19. Jordan WilliamsSeason: 2018/19 Club joined: Rochdale Transfer fee: Free Games under Klopp: 0 Despite coming through Liverpool’s academy, Jordan Williams made just one appearance for his boyhood club. He was never on Klopp’s radar prior to joining Rochdale, where his career has been resuscitated. 20. Emre Can Season: 2018/19 Club joined: Juventus Transfer fee: £14m Games under Klopp: 116 Can’s final season with Liverpool was a frustrating one for all those concerned. He was trusted and given regular game time by Klopp despite running down his contract as Liverpool refused to include a buy-out clause in any extension. In the end, as expected, Can opted to join Italian powerhouse Juventus, where despite a promising start he’s now looking to rediscover his groove following a period on the sidelines. The post What happened next? Every player to leave Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp appeared first on Squawka News. #JurgenKlopp #KevinStewart #ChristianBenteke

#JurgenKlopp #KevinStewart #ChristianBenteke

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pope-francis-quotes · 7 years

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3rd May >> Pope Francis' Address (Full Text) at Today's General Audience: On Pope Francis' Visit to Egypt ~ ‘May the Holy Family of Nazareth, which emigrated to the banks of the Nile to escape Herod’s violence, bless and always protect the Egyptian people and guide them on the way of prosperity, fraternity and peace. ‘ This morning’s General Audience was held at 9:30 in St. Peter’s Square, where the Holy Father Francis met with groups of pilgrims and faithful from Italy and from all over the world. In his address in Italian, the Pope reflected on his recent Apostolic Journey to Egypt. After summarizing his catechesis in several languages, the Holy Father expressed special greetings to groups of faithful present. The General Audience ended with the singing of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing. Below. please find an English working translation of Pope Francis’ address this morning: The Holy Father’s Catechesis Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! Today I wish to speak to you about my Apostolic Journey that, with God’s help, I carried out in the past days to Egypt. I went to that country following a fourfold invitation: of the President of the Republic, of His Holiness the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch, of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and of the Coptic Catholic Patriarch. I thank each one of them for their truly warm hospitality to me. And I thank all the Egyptian people for their participation and the affection with which they lived this visit of the Successor of Peter. The President and Civil Authorities made an extraordinary effort so that this event could unfold in the best ways; so that it could be a sign of peace, a sign of peace for Egypt and for all that region that, unfortunately, suffers due to conflicts and terrorism. In fact, the motto of the trip was “The Pope of Peace in an Egypt of Peace.” My visit to Al-Azhar University, the oldest Muslim University and highest academic institution of Sunni Islam, had a double horizon: that of dialogue between Christians and Muslims and, at the same time, that of promotion of peace in the world. The meeting with the Grand Imam happened at Al-Azhar, a meeting that then extended to the International Conference for Peace. In this context I offered a reflection, which valued the history of Egypt as land of civilization and land of covenant. For the whole of humanity Egypt is synonym of ancient civilization, of art treasures and knowledge, and this reminds us that peace is built through education, formation of knowledge, a humanism that includes as an integral part the religious dimension, the relation with God as the Grand Imam recalled in his address. Peace is built also by starting again from the covenant between God and man, foundation of the covenant among all men, based on the Decalogue written on the stone tablets of Sinai, but much more profoundly in the heart of every man of every time and place, a law that is summarized in the two Commandments of love of God and of neighbor. The same foundation is also at the basis of the construction of the social and civil order, in which all citizens of every origin, culture and religion are called to collaborate. Such a vision of healthy laicism emerged in the exchange of addresses with the President of the Republic of Egypt, in the presence of the Authorities of the country and of the Diplomatic Corps. The great historical and religious patrimony of Egypt and its role in the Middle Eastern region confer on it a peculiar task in the path to a stable and lasting peace, that leans not on the right of force but on the force of law. Christians in Egypt, as in every nation of the earth, are called to be leaven of fraternity. And this is possible if they live in themselves communion in Christ. We were able to give a strong sign of communion, thanks be to God, together with my dear brother Pope Tawadros II, Patriarch of the Orthodox Copts. We renewed the commitment, also signing a joint declaration to walk together and our commitment […] We prayed together for the martyrs of the recent attacks that, tragically, struck that venerable Church, and their blood has fecundated that ecumenical meeting, in which the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew also participated: the Ecumenical Patriarch, my dear brother. The second day of the trip was dedicated to the Catholic faithful. The Holy Mass celebrated in the Stadium, put at our disposition by the Egyptian Authorities, was a celebration of faith and of fraternity, in which we felt the living presence of the Risen Lord. Commenting on the Gospel, I exhorted the small Catholic community in Egypt to relive the experience of the disciples of Emmaus: to always find in Christ, Word and Bread of life, the joy of the faith, the ardor of hope and the strength to witness in love that “we have encountered the Lord!” And I lived the last moment together with the priests, men and women religious and seminarians in the Major Seminary. There are so many seminarians: this is a consolation! It was a Liturgy of the Word, in which the promises of consecrated life were renewed. In this community of men and women, who have chosen to give their life to Christ for the Kingdom of God, I saw the beauty of the Church in Egypt, and I prayer for all Christians of the Middle East so that, led by theirpPastors and accompanied by the consecrated, they are salt and light in those lands, in the midst of those peoples. For us, Egypt has been a sign of hope, of refuge and of help. When that part of the world was hungry, Jacob went there with his sons; then, when Jesus was persecuted, He went there. Therefore, to tell you about this trip means to follow the path of hope: for us, Egypt is that sign of hope be it because of the history be it because of today, of this fraternity of which I wished to tell you. I thank again those who made this trip possible and all those who in different ways made their contribution, especially the many persons who offered their prayers and sufferings. May the Holy Family of Nazareth, which emigrated <to> the banks of the Nile to escape Herod’s violence, bless and always protect the Egyptian people and guide them on the way of prosperity, fraternity and peace. Thank you! [Original text: Italian] [Translation by Virginia M. Forrester] In Italian A warn welcome goes to the Italian-speaking faithful. I am happy to receive the students of Saint Paul’s Pontifical Missionary College of Rome, and the participants in the Course promoted by the Pontifical Auxilium Faculty of the Sciences of Education. I greet the Civic Network of Mayors for Hospitality of the Province of Varese; the faithful of Albanella; the members of the Peace Arsenal of Turin and the 24th of July Association. On the day of the feast of Saints Philip and James I wish for each one of you that the memory of the Apostles, joyful heralds of the Risen One, will enhance your faith and encourage your witness of the Gospel. Finally, a greeting goes to young people, the sick and newlyweds. At the beginning of the month of May we invoke the celestial intercession of Mary, Mother of Jesus. Dear young people, learn to pray to her with the simple and effective prayer of the Rosary; dear sick, may Our Lady be your support in the trial of pain; dear newlyweds, imitate her love for God and for brothers! [Original text: Italian] [Translation by Virginia M. Forrester]

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dailyofficereadings · 4 years

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Daily Office Readings August 26, 2020

Psalm 119:1-24

Psalm 119

The Glories of God’s Law

1 Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. 2 Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart, 3 who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways. 4 You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. 5 O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! 6 Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. 7 I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous ordinances. 8 I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.

9 How can young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 10 With my whole heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commandments. 11 I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you. 12 Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes. 13 With my lips I declare all the ordinances of your mouth. 14 I delight in the way of your decrees as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways. 16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

17 Deal bountifully with your servant, so that I may live and observe your word. 18 Open my eyes, so that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. 19 I live as an alien in the land; do not hide your commandments from me. 20 My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times. 21 You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments; 22 take away from me their scorn and contempt, for I have kept your decrees. 23 Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. 24 Your decrees are my delight, they are my counselors.

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm 12-14

Psalm 12

Plea for Help in Evil Times

To the leader: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

1 Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind. 2 They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, 4 those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own—who is our master?”

5 “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the Lord; “I will place them in the safety for which they long.” 6 The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

7 You, O Lord, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever. 8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among humankind.

Psalm 13

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I bear pain[a] in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, 4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

5 But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 14

Denunciation of Godlessness

To the leader. Of David.

1 Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.

3 They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one.

4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord?

5 There they shall be in great terror, for God is with the company of the righteous. 6 You would confound the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge.

7 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

Footnotes:

Psalm 13:2 Syr: Heb hold counsels

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Job 6:1

Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

6 Then Job answered:

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Job 7

Job: My Suffering Is without End

7 “Do not human beings have a hard service on earth, and are not their days like the days of a laborer? 2 Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like laborers who look for their wages, 3 so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. 4 When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I rise?’ But the night is long, and I am full of tossing until dawn. 5 My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out again. 6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and come to their end without hope.[a]

7 “Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good. 8 The eye that beholds me will see me no more; while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone. 9 As the cloud fades and vanishes, so those who go down to Sheol do not come up; 10 they return no more to their houses, nor do their places know them any more.

11 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 12 Am I the Sea, or the Dragon, that you set a guard over me? 13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,’ 14 then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions, 15 so that I would choose strangling and death rather than this body. 16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone, for my days are a breath. 17 What are human beings, that you make so much of them, that you set your mind on them, 18 visit them every morning, test them every moment? 19 Will you not look away from me for a while, let me alone until I swallow my spittle? 20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of humanity? Why have you made me your target? Why have I become a burden to you? 21 Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be.”

Footnotes:

Job 7:6 Or as the thread runs out

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Acts 10:1-16

Peter and Cornelius

10 In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. 2 He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God. 3 One afternoon at about three o’clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius.” 4 He stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” He answered, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; 6 he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside.” 7 When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, 8 and after telling them everything, he sent them to Joppa.

9 About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 Then he heard a voice saying, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.” 15 The voice said to him again, a second time, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

John 7:1-13

The Unbelief of Jesus’ Brothers

7 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish[a] to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. 2 Now the Jewish festival of Booths[b] was near. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; 4 for no one who wants[c] to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even his brothers believed in him.) 6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil. 8 Go to the festival yourselves. I am not[d] going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

Jesus at the Festival of Booths

10 But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were[e] in secret. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, “He is a good man,” others were saying, “No, he is deceiving the crowd.” 13 Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.

Footnotes:

John 7:1 Other ancient authorities read was not at liberty

John 7:2 Or Tabernacles

John 7:4 Other ancient authorities read wants it

John 7:8 Other ancient authorities add yet

John 7:10 Other ancient authorities lack as it were

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

#August 26 #2020

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romancatholicreflections · 7 years

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31st December >> ‘The Holy Family’ ~ Daily Reflection/Commentary on Today’s Mass Readings for Roman Catholics on the Feast of The Holy Family, Jesus, Mary & Joseph (Genesis 15:1-6;17:3b-5,15-16;21:1-7; Hebrews 11:8,11-12,17-19; Luke 2:22-40).

IT IS CUSTOMARY to celebrate the feast of the Holy Family on the Sunday immediately following our celebrations on the birth of Jesus at Christmas. It is a time when we can reflect on the quality of our own family life in the light of the Church’s (if not the world’s) ‘First Family’.

For a large part of his life Jesus was part of a family. We always imagine that this must have been an extremely happy family. Yet, like every other family, it must have had from time to time its ups and downs, its joys and sorrows, its problems and difficulties.

There may have been problems about supplying the family’s needs on occasion. Surely someone fell sick at one time or another and was a source of anxiety for the rest of the family. And this was in an age when medical resources were few and relatively little was known about health and hygiene.

During Jesus’ public life, Mary appears a number of times and she witnessed his death on the cross. But we do not know anything about Joseph. Had he already died by the beginning of Jesus’ public life (although his name is mentioned during Jesus’ visit to Nazareth [Luke 4:22])? Given the short life expectancy of those days, it is very possible that, by the time Jesus was in his 30s, Joseph had already died. If so, it must have been a painful experience for mother and son. There is no reason to think that Holy Family was spared any of the pains or denied any of the joys of ordinary families.

Leaving the family

It must have been a painful time – as it can be for any family – when Jesus, already about 30 years old, left his family for the work his Father had given him to do. We remember, when he was only 12, how distressed Mary and Joseph were when he “disappeared” for only three days. From now on, he would belong to a new family, the family of the world and especially of those who were committed to follow his Way. His mother, brothers and sisters would from now on be those who became his disciples, those who heard the Word of God and kept it. They would, of course, also include Mary his mother, for no one kept and heard God’s Word better than she.

Most people, in one way or another, leave their family environment. While the family must always have top priority in our concerns, it is not an absolute priority. All of us, and especially Christians, are called to follow the example of Jesus and align ourselves with the family of the world. For, with one Father, we are all brothers and sisters to each other and are called to care for each other. One of the problems with some modern families is that they see the surrounding society as being there simply to satisfy their wants and ambitions. It is this attitude which can put unbearable pressures on young people.

Offered to God The roots of this caring attitude are recorded in today’s Gospel which describes what we normally refer to as the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Jesus, as the first-born* child of his parents, has to be offered up specially to the Lord. This was an acknowledgment that all life is a gift from God and that God is the Lord of all life. The child belonged to God and had ritually to be bought back for a small sum of money.

But Jesus is no ordinary child and his arrival in the Temple is welcomed by two very holy people – Simeon and Anna. Simeon, filled with the Spirit of God, had been promised he would not die before seeing the Messiah, Israel’s long-awaited Saviour-King. With deep spiritual insight he recognises his Lord in the infant he holds in his arms: “Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace…because my eyes have been the salvation which you have prepared for all the nations to see, a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel.”

A stumbling block

But all is not light. For the child “is destined for the fall and for the rising of many”. Jesus will be the source of life and liberation for many but he will also be a fatal stumbling block for those who, in their culpable blindness, reject his way of truth and love. “Come, you blessed of my Father, who recognised and loved me…” but also “Depart from me, you cursed ones, who refused to recognise and love me…” For, as Simeon foretells, Jesus will be “a sign that is rejected”, rejected by many of his own people and rejected by many others since.

And the shadow of the Cross looms when he warns Mary that “a sword will pierce your own soul”. This was part of the package when she said, ‘Yes’ to the angel. “I am the slave of the Lord; let it happen according to what you say”. Yes, this family will not be spared its problems either. But these things are fully accepted as part of the family’s mission to bring light and life to the world.

Silent witness

The old woman Anna, too, on seeing the child, breaks into praise of God. And she spoke of him to all who looked forward to the “liberation of Jerusalem”. She gives her silent witness to the world’s longing for salvation, for wholeness. Placing Anna standing side by side with Simeon, one writer has said, Luke “expresses by this arrangement that man and woman stand together and side by side before God. They are equal in honour and grace, they are endowed with the same gift and have the same responsibilities”.

In this environment of love and hope, Jesus’ parents return to Nazareth with their son. There he continues to grow and mature full of God’s wisdom and God’s grace-filled love. Here the solid foundation is built for his future work. All that Jesus the grown man means to us can surely be traced back to the formative years in the bosom of his two loving parents.

Good family life

And what is true of Jesus is true of all of us. A happy, nurturing family environment is so important. One gets the impression that in many parts of the world and especially in the so-called “developed” world, family life is in deep trouble. Anyone who has regular contact with young people will be aware of how disillusioned many of them are with the family situation and, in particular, in their relations with their parents.

The problem is that many parents expect respect and obedience from their children without actually behaving in a way which deserves it. Parents cannot set double standards by which they feel entitled to do what their children are forbidden from doing. Parents can hardly earn respect if they are constantly fighting with each other, if they are too busy making money to spend time with their children, if they think they can buy off their children with money but have neither the ability nor the willingness to listen to what they have to say.

One father had the experience (not at all unknown) that, as soon as he walked into the room, his son would walk out. When a friend encouraged trying to understand the son rather than insisting the son do what he was told, the father replied, “I already understand him. What he needs is to learn respect for his parents and to show appreciation for all we’re trying to do for him.” The friend suggested another approach: “If you want your son really to open up, you must work on the assumption that you don’t understand him and perhaps never fully will but that you want to and will try.” The father did try, he did listen unconditionally and both father and son learnt much they had not been aware of before.

Ultimately, a Christian family’s agenda has to be set in the light of the Gospel’s vision of life. In these days, too much of it is being set by a highly pressurised society and sometimes by clinging irrationally to out-dated cultural traditions. Perhaps only the Church as a whole and not individual families can deal with this problem not only for its own members but for society as a whole.

There is no question that the quality of any society depends on the quality of its family life. Society exists for the family but the family also exists for society and, unless these two interdependent relationships are recognised, the vision of God’s Kingdom will be thwarted.

______________

*First-born does not necessarily imply that there were other children. It simply means what it says: the first child to be born into a family.

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voiceofkingdomchildren · 8 years

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Female 34 England 🇬🇧 - I have been hurt, abused, picked on, used, I have been naughty, sinful, a bully, and a trouble maker. I have been lost and I have been found in Him. Full Story: I was born upside down and a month premature. I was awkward from the word go. I nearly killed myself and my mother when I was born. I was born in 1982. Many times in my life I was sorry I had been born. My mother said I was an ok child until I was 1 years old, then all the trouble began. I would get up to mischief all the time. My father is a vicar so we lived in big houses and moved quite a bit. I lived in three big houses while growing up. I am the last child of 8 to be born. When I was little I had detachment disorders. I didn’t like to be away from my mother and father. Me and my father did not get on, I was very abused, we had arguments that resulted in him being violent to me, spitting on me, punching me, trying to throw chairs at me. He was an emotional blackmailer and a physical bully. Later in life I was scared to cry and show emotion. I learnt to be violent and argumentative. I became a bully. I learnt naughty words at an early age. I got into trouble a lot at school. I was traumatised by school. I wish I had never been born. I thought my parents were selfish for having me, they did not plan for me and already had two boys and five girls. Why me? I did not do well at school and I was sent to a school that had a special class to help you. All through my life they did tests to see what was wrong with me. I had hearing tests because they thought I was deaf, I was tested for Dyslexia but apparently that was not it. Although sometimes I wonder! Some said maybe I have Dyspraxia, some suggest I have AD/HD – that one was more plausible! It made a lot of sense, but by then I was 18 and thought there was nothing that can be done. I just always wanted to be normal like the rest of the people in the world. When I was 14 my friend got knocked off her bike by a car and she died. I had joined the church choir and she was one of my friends. It was sad. And for some reason I started to think maybe I also might die young. Around this time some church friends invited me to go to a Christian camp called Spring Harvest. It was here that I gave my life to Jesus for the first time. Learning more about this God and His love that is not violent. I had received the Holy Spirit, and I cried. I remember as a small child walking around the black and red current bushes singing to God, is this Jesus real or is it just a story? And I had a vision of a comic strip and Jesus and His disciples. All of a sudden Jesus steps out of the comic strip and I start to run around the garden with Him and it feels like I am flying, soaring around, and gliding as on the wings of eagles. I knew this Jesus was real and alive. Singing in the church choir I found that God had given me a talent for singing. A gifting. I was being asked to do solos a lot, but I never grew out of getting anxious and scared. Since a young age I had sexual encounters with people. I was too young. At 16 I started smoking cigarettes, and drinking. I later met a violent drug dealer and got into drugs and some scary situations. I didn’t care if I came home in a body bag or not. All the while I was going to church, I still believed in God and Jesus and Holy Spirit, but I was not living the life that God wanted me to live. As one drug dealer put it, I was living a double life. It got worse I would start smoking weed, listening to Eminem and self harm, cutting my arms and legs to release some of the pain deep within that I had suppressed. I was an angry person inside. I mainly smoked weed for over 10 years and met some nasty people on the way. Despite all of this I knew God is for everyone and He said come just as you are. Don’t try and stop what you are doing and sort yourself out first in your own strength – it never works. He freed me from my drug addiction. I wanted and longed to do Kingdom business so I was asking God a lot if I could do Kingdom business, and I didn’t know what it looked like. I have always had a desire for Africa and a heart for Africa. I remember one lady in the canteen saying to me, why are you going to go help those Africans, I wouldn’t. I always thought that was a bit sad as I have a heart and compassion for Africa, but not everyone does. Some people said I was silly to quit work. I was taking a leap of faith going to Africa. I felt God was telling me to follow Him and I did. In 2014 I went to Malawi. We helped paint the base, we did children’s ministry, we preached for the first time, we went to an outreach centre and had lots of fun. I later decided to do a Discipleship Training School and it was the best thing I have ever done in my life. I got to know God, I got to make Him known. I got to know who I am in Him. Before DTS I found it hard to call God Father... I can call God Father now. While I was away I started to forgive my father and myself. I have been in Malawi for 2 year now. Today people are still supporting me and God has taken care of all my needs. God is growing me and equipping me. God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called. I am still learning to be less of me and more of Him. I have been lost and I have been found. I have been found in Him, and He can be found in me. I love life now.

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ramrodd · 3 years

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39. A Political Beast (Rev. 13:1-10, 10/4/2020)

COMMENTARY:

The author of Revelation hasn't had access to Hebrews, which is being written at about the same time: just when the spiritual fury set into motion by the crucifixtion of Jesus is getting ready to direct the finger of God against the Temple of Jerusalem, which is the lightening rod in the numerology of the Bible created in the scriptures when the chapters and verses were included in the printed Bible. Daniel 7:13. I've described this to you elsewhere, the 7 being the lightening rod and the 13 being Yaweh, Queen of Battle, with the terrible lightening of Her terrible swift sword, loosed against Babylon.

The Roman centurion was the fateful lightening of her terrible swift sword in 70 CE on what is now Temple Mount. In terms of the destruction of the temple and the coming of the 2nd Coming of the Son of Man, He brought along the 10th Legion to share in the baptism of the blood of the Lord. Jesus was baptized by water, but Cornelius had been baptized by Fire and Blood in his devotion to Duty. The fall of Jerusalem was just another day in Paradise. Good training for the a serious fight.

Cornelius is the 13 in the equation of Daniel 7:13, Mark 13 and Revelation 13. Herod's Temple was the 7. Israel was ground zero.

John Mark doesn't include the Mount Olivet Discourse because he wasn't there. He didn't know about it until he was introduced to Quelle and read the autograph of the Gospel According to Mark at Cornelius's estate.

Revelation 13 is a sort of cubist portrait of the Centurion as a historic artifact in all four Gospels, Acts and several of Paul's letters. Epistemologically, the centurion emerged as an organizational innovation that made the legions impregnable from sometime after the 7 Kings straight as a laser to the Command Sergeant Major of the US Army., as a proxy for the American republican centuriate. This is what Romans 13:1 - 7 is all about. That is the only thing that Paul brings to Rome that the Romans hadn't accumulated in the Palestine Quelle and what ever Theophilus had accumulated in Rome that brought the whole covenant cutting ceremony between the God of Genesis 15 and the centurions at the tomb in Matthew 28, which is consistent with the timeline of the Gospel of Peter.

Pilate and Cornelius composed and sent an intelligence report to the Emperor by way of the Praetorian Guards, according to Tertullian. Resurrection would have captured the imagination of any Roman soldier inside the Roman Antonio fortress overlooking Herod's palace. It was their duty to make a formal report of the greatest urgency. Between the time of the cross and the recall of Pilate in 36, somebody between Pilate and Tiberius dies, Sajanus, who is revealed as plotting a January 6 kind of political coup against Tiberius, which, traditionally, began by killing Tiberius, is savagely and publically executed based, as I understand it, on a warning from his sister that foul play was afoot. And, then, Tiberius introduces the soldiers informal title for Jesus Followers, Christian. which migrates with Roman tourism to Antioch by the time of the Jerusalem Council. I mean, it's important to connect the dots between all these events, Quelle and what Luke means in Acts 24:22. Felix probably had reviewed Quelle at some point, routinely, but was kept out of the loop between the pagan Christians in the Praetorian Guards and centurions throughout the Roman legions.

Leviathan, the sea monster, is the Roman Empire, which was, first, a sea power. It was like the British Empire in that regard. Behometh, the river monster, is the Roman legions, which had conquered Gaul by its rivers, The fusion of these two dimensions of the centurion is Daniel's 4 creature with the iron jaw. And the centurion in Mark 15:39: the centurion is the iron teeth of the leopard with the iron jaw.

Now, in terms of the mundane numerology of the Bible, which is the numerology of the chapters and verses added by man but directed pretty emphatically by the Holy Spirit, it is useful to consider the fact that the verse structure of Revelation 13 and Matthew 13 are the same and that, in terms of the mechanisms of numerology, when you reduce 13 to a single digit, it becomes 4 and then consider that Mark 4 and Revelation 13 employ the same verse structure and echo each other at 9 and 18. Virtually everything after Revelation 4:2 needs to be understood as poetry similar to the Koran. And the part that John Mark leaves out of The Gospel of John is Mark 13, because John Mark wasn't there. Yet Mark 13 leads directly to 70 CE.

John Mark is the witness to Jesus' agony at Gethsemene. Everybody else was alseep and John Mark is the Beloved Disciple. He's part of Martha, Mary and Lazarus's household in some manner: Mary of Bethany may have been Mary of Jerusalem, which, when you connect the dots between the banquet hall for the last supper and Jesus' care to keep the Betheny residence and Jerusalem residence separate from each other. John Mark meets Jesus when he is 12 eyars old and becomes type cast as the Beaver for the rest of his life. John Mark is the Rich Young Man who wants to join up with Jesus, but Jesus has other plans for him, Besides, John Mark may have become a 15 year old youth ready to campaign with the big boys, he still slept with a teddy bear. He's the young man wrapped in a sheet who escapes by running away, naked.

One of my favorite examples of the Holy Spirit's influence on the mundane numerology is Acts 10:34 - 43. When you reduce the verse numbers to single digets, you end up with two 7s' acting like cosmic quotation marks and is an example of the "doubling" in the KJV Genesis 41:32 I employ, personally, in my prayer life to discern the Holy Spirit's activity around me. This section of Acts validates Gary Haberman's thesis of the explosion of set doctrine after Pentacost. Acts 10 is the proof. It's like Tertullian: his report is perfectly consistent with the routines of the Roman Bureacracy represented by the Praetorian Guard.

And, after the Holy Spirit bapatized Cornelus and his household without being, first, baptized by watter, Cornelius told Peter the details of the report he and Pilate sent to Theophilus in Rome that compelled Tiberius to introduce "Christians" to Rome.

Where could Peter have received these details except from a Roman source: Peter and the others had gone to ground and it was left to the women to start the ball rolling on the intelligence file on The Way referred to in Acts 24:22.

The earthquake in Matthew 28 was the effect of the event horizon that created the Shroud of Turin when the corpse of Jesus was sntached out of that tomb, physically, and left a vacuum in the atmosphere of the tomb that slammed shut like the thunder created by the vacuum left by a lightening bolt and caused the centurion and his 16 soldiers to swoon and have the vision of the covenant cutting ceremony like Abram in Genesis 15.

The epistemology of the Bible is inerrant and it begins in Genesis 1:1 and runs right through Cornelius, Revelation 13, Romans 13:1 - 7 and the 2nd Amendment to the 19th Amendment to take possession of the Universe.

It is clear that Revelation was written at about the same time the Jewish wars began. Revelation is the book end to Genesis. As literature, the Bible begins like the Odyssey, in the cosmos and ends, with Revelation, in the Cosmos, with the entire narrative coming to a singularity of dramatic focus at John 11:35, the moment Jesus gets His marching orders to the Cross. From that moment, He becomes a dead man walking. Then, with the Resurrection, the narrative explodes back into the cosmos, like a cosmic dandelion, sowing itself in the wind,

And the most fertile soil for The Word was the Roman servant leaders of the Legions, the centuriate. Tertullian knew what he was talking about.

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romancatholicreflections · 7 years

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9th July >> Daily Reflection on Today's Mass Readings (Zechariah 9:9-10; Romans 8:9.11-13; Matthew 11:25-30) for Roman Catholics on Sunday of the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time

Commentary on Zechariah 9:9-10; Romans 8:9.11-13; Matthew 11:25-30 THERE ARE TWO APPARENTLY contradictory sides to the Gospel. On the one hand, there are very radical demands made on us in the following of Jesus. An example of these ‘hard sayings’ was the Gospel of last Sunday. “Anyone who prefers father or mother… son or daughter to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me…” Luke’s Gospel in particular emphasises the absolute and unconditional demands made of the Christian disciple. Before making the decision of becoming a disciple of Christ, sit down and count the cost because “whoever does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). Following Christ is all or nothing, you cannot at the same time serve God and long for material possessions and all the things that money can buy. Yet that passage from Luke is followed immediately by chapter 15 and the three stories of God’s longing to bring back the sinner: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost (prodigal) son. In other words, another side of the Gospel speaks with equal emphasis of God’s warmth, compassion and his desire for reconciliation with the weak and the sinful. Finding the balance So if you found last week’s readings rather demanding, they need to be balanced against the passages into today’s Mass. It would be wrong to come down too much on either side. The Gospel still calls for total giving of self, not as the denial of that self but as the only way to find one’s true self. At the same time, our God is a God of infinite patience and compassion as we stumble along in our efforts to unite ourselves fully with him. The theme of today’s readings is very much one of peace and consolation. The First Reading from the prophet Zechariah speaks of a king entering Jerusalem riding on a young donkey. The scene is one of humility but also of peace. He rides on a placid donkey rather than on a prancing war horse. This is confirmed later in the words: “He will banish [war] chariots from Ephraim and [war] horses from Jerusalem; the bow of war will be banished.” Our king is a king of peace. “He will proclaim peace for the nations.” He is a king of peace, not just in the sense of an external absence of violence but of a deep, inner peace, shalom. Jesus, who is identified with the king in Zechariah’s passage, also brings peace. He is the Prince of Peace. (He also brings the “sword” but this is not contradictory, as we will see below.) “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest .” Through the tough times Whatever demands Jesus may make on our following of him, he wants to be at all times truly a source of comfort, of consolation and of forgiveness and reconciliation. Whatever demands life may be making on us, he is there too to be called on. When we are in difficulties and pain, we can ask him to take them away. He may not always do so but we can expect him to restore our peace. For we need to remember that Jesus is not to be seen as an escape from our problems. Sometimes he will give us peace not from our pain but within our pain. There can be the danger that we expect Jesus or his Mother or some other saint or the Church to be there to wave a magic wand that wipes away all our problems, all difficulties, all obstacles. Jesus’ own life is an excellent example. In the garden of Gethsemane, faced with imminent arrest, torture and execution, he did not want to have to go through it. This is a perfectly normal human reaction to the threat of death. Anything else would be very strange (yet one sometimes hears people speak as if Jesus actually wanted to go through all those terrible experiences). Jesus begged his Father to spare him going through this appalling ordeal. “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me,” he prayed but then, at the end of his prayer, said: “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39) The Father was silent and his will was clear. Jesus should face what is coming. And, when sometime later, Jesus rises from his prayer, he is a very different person. From that moment on and for the rest of his Passion experience he reveals nothing but quiet dignity and strength in the face of all kinds of abuse and humiliations. He is full of an inner peace, which had come once he had said that total ‘Yes’ to his Father. His prayer in the garden had been answered, although not in the way he originally requested. Here we might say we have the two sides of the Gospel coming together. On the one hand, Jesus makes that absolute and total surrender of himself into God’s hands but, at the same time, experiences the “rest” that comes to those who “labour and are overburdened”. Paul’s experience There is a similar example from the life of Paul. He had some kind of (physical?) ailment which was a source of great distress to him. He felt that it was a serious hindrance to his work of proclaiming the Gospel. “Three times I begged the Lord about this,” he says (2 Corinthians 12:8), “that it should leave me.” And, he says, God answered his prayer but again not in the way he had asked. He was told, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.” His ailment, far from being an obstruction to preaching the Gospel, in fact made the power of Christ more visible. From then on, Paul, far from wanting his problem to be removed, says “I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” He begins to realise that “when I am weak, then I am strong”. And Paul found peace. He had learnt, as we need to do, that “God writes straight with crooked lines”. How different from the way we sometimes approach God, or Jesus, or Mary! “God, give me this… God, I must have this or I can’t go on… Not your will, O Lord, but mine be done! My will be done in heaven as I am trying to get it done on earth!” Everything is upside down. It is not surprising, then, that such prayers seem to go unanswered. There are some things which can be changed in life, and it is up to us to do the changing, mainly by changing ourselves. There are other things which cannot be changed and need to be accepted and lived with. Peace comes from saying a sincere Yes to what is clearly God’s will in our life. This will of God is most often made known by the realities by which we are surrounded. Peace comes when I want – really want – what God wants. When God’s will and mine coincide. This is not passive fatalism; it is an active and joyful response. Sharing the yoke So Jesus says today, “Shoulder my yoke… and you will find rest… Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” A yoke we think of as a heavy (and very burdensome, even painful) piece of wood laid on the shoulders of an ox. But, because of the yoke, the ox can pull the weight of the cart behind it more easily. It is a burden which is also a help. The words of Jesus often seem, at first sight, to be very burdensome. “‘These are hard sayings; who can take them?’… After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him” (John 6:60,66) Yet, in fact, once understood, we know that there can be no other way of living in true freedom and peace. There is still another way of understanding the image of the yoke. Think of it as a double yoke, where two oxen can work together better. We now have a lovely image of Jesus and me yoked together, pulling together. “Shoulder my yoke” then becomes “Share my yoke”. Where I go, he goes along with me, pulling together with me and making it all the easier. There is really no conflict between the two sides of the Gospel. There is only one Jesus, only one Gospel. We are called to be with Jesus all the way, accepting his life vision, his standards, his values – unconditionally. This calls for the simplicity and openness of children rather than intellectual sophistication. Accepting Jesus all the way is not intended as a burden but as a source of comfort, peace, liberation and joy. Happy are those who carry the “burden”, the yoke of the Gospel. Jesus has the secret of living well. Is it not time that we Christians discovered this wonderful secret and began to share it with others?

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